Merry Christmas

Wishing you a joy filled Christmas.

May you ponder the true reason to celebrate.

The birth of The only begotten Child of God; our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Take a minute to feel the peace and love that He provides for us.

Girls Night

About a week ago a new but incredible friend invited me over to make wreaths. Having been to her house I knew they would be amazing!

You should see how she decorates!! So cute!! In her entry is a framed picture of Santa, but really it is her father! How cute is that?

Back to the wreaths!!! I asked what I should bring. She said anything, maybe some ribbon. It just has some of this and some of that.

I bought a couple ornaments, including the bi-plane, gathered ribbon from around the house and at the last minute I threw some sparkly balls in the bag. I think I used like 5 things that I brought including a glue gun!

Candice the most talented wreath maker ever supplied the rest! It was so fun!!! Two other fun ladies came over and I can honestly say that their wreaths turned out just as cute, if not cuter!

Thanks Candice for sharing your talent and darling supplies! And thanks to Michelle and Tina for making the night such a blast

. I simply love my new wreath. Enough so that I yanked all the stuff of my old ones and am re-doing them as well.

I will post pictures when they are done.

The completed wreath! Looks cute huh? Kinda of crazy and fun!!
Glittery ornaments!


This one shows my favorite part! The little bi-plane. It reminds me of the beach!

The cute Merry Christmas!

Giant candy!

A ton of different ribbon!

And snowflakes!

Hidden presents!

A Quilt

It started with a doll.

Chads Cubscout Leader had an American Girl Doll. Actually two of them; Molly and her friend Emily. Sharon's daughter and husband gave her Molly to start because Molly was born the same year as she was!

My little Morgan told this leader that she too had Molly. She also commented on how cute it was the both the dolls had so many clothes. Sharon told us how a long time ago American Girl Dolls sold the patterns for the clothes and that she had made all the doll clothes herself!

Just a few short months later Morgan received her own Emily doll from Santa. She also got a little box from a secret friend. In that box was a rain hat and coat for her Molly doll! Morgan was so excited and I knew just who to thank!

Morgan now know who her secret friend is. Every year since she has received a gift from Sharon for Christmas. Each year a beautifully handmade outfit for her doll.

This year Morgan has a little surprise of her own. She made Sharon a beautiful little quilt for her dolls! She took her time, picking out a couple seams so that it would be just perfect. I helped her with the actual quilting and the binding. I can't wait to see Sharon's response when she gets her own little box this year!

Molly and Emily

Molly's Birthday Dress, made by our friend Sharon
(by the way Sharon made a doll outfit for every little girl in the ward)

The Quilt

Pillow Cases

I have been working on a few little crafts recently. Specifically ruffles. Long, long LONG strips of fabric for ruffles. So I was telling a friend how much I hate making ruffles. She said she had a great trick. So I gave it a try. It works like a charm. Here it is!

You use this kind of floss. It is a sturdy floss that will not unravel. She also said that you can also use dental floss.

So the trick is you sew down the edge securing it to the fabric. Next you switch to a loose zigzag. Be sure to not catch any fabric as you go. If you do, not that I ever have that problem, just pull the thread gently out of the floss and start at the place you left off. This does not have to look perfect. It will not be visible.


I forgot to take a picture of the next step. And really it is the most fun! You just pull the string through the zig zag casing. Gathering the fabric to the amount you desire. Next I pinned it down to the fabric for the pillowcase.

Lastly, I turned it right side out and sewed down a decorative ric rack. A bright happy red!

Family: A Proclamation to the World

Today I happened upon THIS BLOG!

I was moved to tears. My heart was filled.

It is the perfect way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of THIS!

Lately it seems to me that the world has been clawing and tearing at my family. Well ...really all families. Like the world is trying to chip away at the foundation of the family. Like the world is trying to chip away the very most important things in my life; my family.

There are temptations and evils all around us. I am always praying for my children to be protected from those temptations. As I pray I realize that the protective barrier is me. Well not really me but my husband and myself are the conduit in which the protection will pass. That is is Gods love and wisdom that will save them. He has given us the tools we need to survive these trying times. We are to teach and guide our children so that they will know what to turn away from. What to avoid. Or more often these days it is who rather then what. When I read the following paragraph I am reminded of this sacred duty.

"Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. "

I have much faith in the scripture Proverbs 22:6,

Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

I turn to the scriptures for guidance in my daily challenges as a mother. I fall short so often that I truly lean on my Savior Jesus Christ. I repent often for my short comings as a mother and am thankful that through The Atonement of Jesus Christ I am forgiven. I truly would not know where to start in raising my children if it were not for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am so happy to be able to participate is this celebration! What a great theme to dedicate the month to. I know it is a little last minute for some of us, but come on...you have all day tomorrow to be thinking about it. Do what I did....start by reading or re-reading the "Family: A Proclamation to the World"! I hope it moves you as much as it did me!

Be sure and check back often...I will be posting about my experiences this month!

Traditions

The first rain of each school year I make cookies while the kids are at school. They are warm and ready when they come home. It is something my mom did for me. I remember walking home in the very occasional southern California rain just knowing that there were warm cookies waiting. Now I do the same thing. I hope that my kids have the same anticipation that I used to have!

1st Day of School

How quickly they grow...

top ten reasons I am sad they started school

1. house is too quiet
2. one year older
3. time away each day
4. homework
5. drama at school
6. early mornings
7. packing lunches
8. forms to be filled out
9. bedtimes
10. laundry

top ten reasons I am happy they started school

1. time to clean
2. time to cook
3. time to sew
4. no fighting
5. no dirty dishes in the middle of the day
6. routine
7. making new friends
8. bedtimes
9. learning new things
10. I can hear myself think

Scouts

Chad had a Court of Honor last night and he received a rank advancement. He is now a Star Scout. Moving right up the ranks.

One of the funniest parts of scouts is the skits. Chad and his troop did a skit where they were acting out a scene. The director would have them do it over and over again different styles every time. The funniest by far was when they did it as a musical! These silly boys who never act that way...and to hear them singing out the scene was hysterical.

A side note: I have been playing on Picnik! LOVE IT! The one at the bottom focused in on Chad is so cool!

Simple Sunday

James 3:18

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

A Sweet Little Gift

Last year Morgan and I planted several sunflower seeds. We had a few flowers, none as big as we had hoped for. We decided not to pull them or cut them until after winter. That it would be a nice treat for the birds. This year we were so excited to see so many pretty little sunflowers spring up! This one is the tallest by far. Darn those east winds blew it right down! We considered cutting it for Missy's room. In the end we decided that leaving them for the birds would be much nicer! Maybe next year we will have another sweet little gift!

A Happy Day

It may have been noted; I have not been posting very often! Pretty much nothing personal at all. It has been quite sad in the MacQueen home. Well mostly just me but still I am a MacQueeen!

My Camera broke! Oh No! Oh Yes, it did. It has been broken for a long time. I am sure anyone can do the math and figure out when the posting drastically dropped off. Well, I had decided my camera was not worth the cost of repair. I would just save for the one I like. Only it costs quite a bit of money. Meanwhile holidays have come and gone all the while NO PICTURES! I tried not to complain. To suffer in silence. Really anyone who know me know that there is no such thing as silence when associated with me! So I complained and whined...mostly just to my cute hubby.

So today the problem has been fixed! My camera is now working again! Even better then ever. And get this...it cost $54.00 to fix!

Oh happy day!

So check back because there is some catching up to do!

Simple Sunday

Galations 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty werewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Simple Sunday

Helaman 5:12

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye meust build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his might winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have nopower over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Simple Sunday

2 Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, things, may abound to every good work:

Simple Sunday

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Thin Mints or Samoas?

Which ever you prefer we got 'em!

The easy part is done..now the delivery begins! I think that is more up Charlies alley wouldn't ya say? Now I just have to get him to see it my way!

Words of Wisdom

I "lifted" this post of a blog I lurk at...it cracked me up! You can find her at http://sherimhoward.blogspot.com/ ! I really wish that someone would have given me this list when we relocated to Utah. I can honestly say it was truly shocking the first year!

This list was given by an older woman to a younger women who had just moved to Minnesota with her husband to start their first job after being in Arizona for grad school. I thought it applied to any who live in long winters....and then to everyone else.

1. Laugh and smile at least once every day
2. Learn something new. Marjorie Hinckley said, “Develop intellectual curiosity.”
3. Get adequate rest even if you have to give up something else and take a nap. Five hours a night is not enough.
4. Exercise enough to sweat….not necessarily to loose weight.
5. Feed your body with healthy food
6. Feed your spirit with healthy words
7. Count your blessings often. Keep a blessing journal and write things down. Sometimes we ignore the small things
8. Offer a daily prayer with real intent.
9. Find something you were meant to do here on earth and do it. Pursue it and find joy in it.

I would add #10....Spring does not come in February like it does in California! AND it does not come until mid May! That one was the hardest for me, for some reason I actually thought that by March it would be in the 50's and 60's!

Anonymous

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February 19, 2010 5:24 AM

Does anyone else get super duper creepy anonymous comments on their blog? Like way far off the track from what your blog or particular post is even about! I used to wonder why people would delete comments; I get it now! Twice I have received comments in Chinese! I actually copied it and went to a Chinese-English translation website and entered it...ummm not a website I would chose to go to!

So I will no longer be accepting anonymous comments from anyone! I am really not enjoying the invites for all sorts of medication!

Something Pretty

Could anything be any prettier?

Ok maybe this is a little prettier?

Yeah, well, ok this is even better!

But this, may be a bit hard to see just what is going on, is by far the prettiest of all! I made these pretty strawberries for my young women. I love them so much and really wanted to do something to make the day special. Well as I was thinking about how much I love them I had this strong feeling that I was supposed to remind them that Heavenly Father loves them even more. The funny part is that I was telling the girls my feelings and the women I work with started nodding. I didn't think anything of it, until the end when she told me that she had been feeling the same thing this morning. I guess that's how you know that you were really listening to something bigger, and smarter, and more loving...

Simple Sunday

Isaiah 44:24

Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by meyself;

Krispy Kreme Donut Burger

We recently watched an episode of Man V. Food. They were traveling around the country to several different baseball stadiums. In Illinois they had the strangest burger we had ever seen. So we decided to give it a try!

It starts off in a reasonable manner...burger, bacon and extra sharp cheddar cheese. Now it gets crazy...you slice a Krispy Kreme donut in half, like a bun. Next you place it cut side down to kinda grill it. Place the burger on top of the rounded side and top with the other half. Everyone said it tasted awesome on the show. So we thought why not. Lets try something crazy and make these on Sunday.

Well let me give you the results:

Morgan = says it was sweet, the bacon was good, and she would have it again.

Chad = spit it out immediately saying it was disgusting! He said you can eat a donut or a burger but not a donut burger!

Charlie = It has a bit of everything, sweet, salty, meaty. He said for those who like tangy meat it would be good. He does not even like teriyaki because it is sweet. He would only it again if we were at the ball field where they make them.

Me = the flavor was fun. I do enjoy sweet meat. It was interesting. The truth is that I can hardly post about this because I feel like I am going to toss my cookies! I only ate a couple bites and they are not sitting well at all! Would I try them again? Not a chance!

.Simple Sunday

D&C 101:16

Be still and know that I am god.

Christmas, A Day Late And A Dollar Short

I threw it all in this one post!~ With not a lot of words~ There are pictures of Christmas morning, Morgans class Christmas morning, and the picture of Shawn laughing is when he opened the "moose sweatshirt" with the additions! Jingle bells! This shirt has been passed back and forth for the last few years. It was actually really funny!